Vacuum jar protective device



Oct. 14, 1930. w 5. WATTS VACUUM JAR PROTECTIVE DEVICE Filed Oct. 24, 1928 InverzZor.

warm/v ZJQLZE WARREN s. warms, or LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOB 'ro nsxmo PIE oonrorul Patented Oct. 14, 1930 UNlTED STATES PATENT ori ice '4 'TION, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE VACUUM JAR PROTECTIVE DEVICE Application filed October 24, 1928 Serial No. 814,656.

The present invention relates to a'protective means intended for association with vacuum bottles and jars, and has to do particularly with an inner wall or cell for use With such a device when employed for refrigerated storage purposes.

With the advent of the now internationally known product Eskimo pie, many innovations, particularly of a nature adapted to produce or preserve Eskimo pies, cameon to the market. Among these have been new devices for the preservationof this article in a refrigerated container.

The novelty and attractiveness of Eskimo pie hasbeen such that there has been and there is now a demand for it which it is difficult to supply, not because ice cream manufacturers cannot manufacture suificient of these articles of that quality which will satisfy the public taste, but because of the ineflicient facilities heretofore employed for its marketing and preservation. This serious difliculty has most recently been overcome in the eastern part of the United States and elsewhere by an innovation, the subject matter of this application for Letters Patent, namely, the employment of a vacuum jar as a storage container for Eskimo pie, such jar being from time to time supplied with an amount ofsolidified carbon dioxide in cake form or other evaporating refrigerants.

' In New York particularly, tens of thousands of jars of the vacuum type with wide mouths especially for this purpose have been placed in retail establishments as silent advertisements for Eskimo pie, and in these jars, along with a number of Eskimo pies, there has been placed a block of solidified carbon dioxide, such carbon dioxide either being wrapped in paper or boxed, the covering thereover to retard evaporation. This means of storage has been devised to keep the Eskimo pies solidified, the internal temperature of the jars being probably 130 degreesbelow zero Fahrenheit. At this temperature, Eskimo pie is particularly delicious, and so far as is known, the only objection to the system of marketing followed has been an infrequent breakageof the glass cell ofthevacuum jar due to rough handling of the Eskimo P to the too sudden escape; T:

of gaseous carbon dioxide upon removal ofthe jar cap and following its evaporation from cake form, and/or the too sudden rush of warm atmospheric air into the jar and against the walls of the container coincidental with the removal of the jarcap.

A simple device to overcome each and all; of these difiiculties has been devised and it? comprises the subject matter of the present application.

As may foregoing introductory description, the'ob: jects of the invention are to render more stable a vacuum storage jar, and to prevent, as far as is humanly possible, the destruc tion of the glass portion thereof because of rough handling, because of too sudden discharge of carbon dioxide gas therefrom, and/ or because of a too sudden inrush of outside air against the inner walls of the j M: .7 1

These objects, and such other objects as may hereinafter appear, are obtained by the novel combination of elements herein de= scribed, their construction, and the manner of their arrangement one with another. One embodiment of the invention is illus trated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a detachable and separable basket or liner which is adapted to be placed in a vacuum jar; and Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through a vacuum storage jar in which such basket or liner is disposed. I

Like reference characters are employed for indicating similar parts in the drawing and in the description of the invention hereinafter given. I The two figures in the drawing should be read conjointly. The vacuum jar is of a con"- ventional structure but selected as to its dimensions to meet the requirements of Es? kimo pie marketing. It is a wide mouthed jar and relatively shallow in proportion to its diameter. H

The jar itself comprises a glass shell 10 having an inner wall 11 and an outer wall 12. The space 13 intermediate walls 11 and be readily understood from selected configuration.

Upon the outer wall 12 of the shell 10) and near its top is a bead or peripheral rib 15 extending circumferentiallyabout .the shell 10. Disposed thereabove is an annular hand or collar 16, generally of a non-conductor of heat a d so up'qn e c a lfiis n annu member or r'ing '17fof greaterthicknessthan .cleansing, When. so formed, a portion, the "inner surfaces of the basket 30 should procollar 16, and to this latter is secured .an

external sleeve 18 with depending flan es'the lowermost of which is-;beaded ..and i s joined to the outer cylinder 19 by a threaded connectionor'by other suitable joinden. While the joinder between the cylinder 19 andthe sleeve 18 maybe 'otherthana threaded connection, a threaded engagement facilitating assembly of the glass portion within the metal parts is highly desirable. This latter, cylinder 19, is closed at its bottom by a base 20 having a centrally disposed recess 21 therein, there beinga spiral'spring 22 disposed in said cup andengaging the shell 10 adjacent and about the seal-ofi 14;. 7

Intermediate the cylinder 19 and the outer wall 12 of the shell '10 may be disposed a spacer or washer member23, it being usual and customary to have the glass shell 10 come in contact with the enclosing metal casing only at the top pf "said shell 10, The less actual surface contact there is between such.

metalouter shell and the glass vacuum compertinent the better insulation and the more successful is the operation of the device.

The base-20 maybe supplied with legs 24 orit may be otherwise provided with means for vertical support, the whole device being maintained upright upon a stand, a showcase or other flat topped device for display. Y 'Across the top of'the shell 10 is a rela tively flat-truncated coniform cork 25. There is a metallic top 26 thereover having a flange 27 extending down about the periphery of the cork 25a short distance for purposes of rotection andfor producing a more finished a pearance. The cover '26 has a centrally disposed handle 28 secured theretoby fastening means 29 which may be of any desired character.

Within the;jar*or shell 10 is a metallic basket-30 having a rounded bottom 31. The

basket and bottom may be formed of a single piece of'mat'erial, or of several pieces ofmaterial ]O1IleCl together many suitable manner.

For neatness the basket hasa 'finished top ed e 32 as is clearly shown in Figure 1. r Y

' asket 30 is of about the same diameter as the shell 10 and is disposed within theshell ll) asis shown in Figure 2 by frictional enge ent with the; walls of shell 10. [The construction of'the' basket is such that it is somewhat flexible or compressible to lend it to following' the contour ofwall 11 and to the inner wall 11 of the shell10 whenso de- I sired,--but this of course prevents the removal of' the metal part from the glass for ready ject fromthe glasswall of the vessel 10 for reasons hereinafter made apparent.

- Within the basket 30as illustrated is shown a plurality. of Eskimo pies. 3,3 of a: general parallelopiped configuration and wrapped in I their usual foil covering.

e A block of carbon dioxide, generally wrapped or in a box, is;placed withinthe jar when in use but this is not here'shown. I

- .As indicated, the refrigerant, is solidified carbon dioxide and the temperature thereof. at the time of its conversion from the solidifiedor cake form into gas is about 135 degrees minus Fahrenheit. 'This is a very intense.

cold, and may sometimes haveia tendency to has been a rather extensive evaporation of ally warm external atmosphere.

The glass of theshell 10 is always fragile and it has sometimes been injured by carelessly throwing Eskimo 'piesi'into the jar, and again the glass has been'injured by the rough and unnecessarily vigorous or careless manner in which'the jars are handled. by dealers. i Y

Very infrequently there has been a shatterthe solid carbon dioxide dueto .anexceptiom ing of the glass :of the shell .10 coincidental with the rush of atmospheric air into the shell 10, this occurring'principally when. the jar has been closed for a: long-time and has becomev'eiy intensely cold. I

j The metal of the basket 30 has higher heat conductivity than the glass of shell 10. The basket is not easily broken or distorted, and when placed within the jar as is shown in Figure 2 it provides a protective wall'for the shell 10 preventing any possibility of damage to'the shell 10 due to a careless handling of Eskimo pics in the jar or an improper removal'ofsuch' articles therefrom. The basv ket 30 acts as a reinforcing member and prevents a too sudden expansion or contraction of the wall 11 when internal pressure is removed therefrom or the wall 11 is exposed to conditions producing a marked heat fluctuation.

When the cork 25 is removed, and atmospheric air is allowed to enter the jar as it may do when the jar is held open for some time, such warm air, instead of coming direcly into contact with the inner wall 11 is arrested by the metallic material of the basket 30 which, because of its high heat conductivity, absorbs quickly the heat of the atmospheric air and prevents such Warm air from striking the perhaps brittle inner wall 11 15 of the shell 10.

The basket 30 also provides a means for maintaining a thin layer of air thereunder and not disturbed by the displacement of some of the air in the jar by atmospheric air with the opening of the shell 11, hence, there is no sudden stress upon the material of the inner wall 11 even as an incident to a sudden change in temperature of the major portion of the air within the jar incident to extended opening of jar 10. In order to prevent too great a displacement of air from the jar at any time, the basket is made shorter than the shell 10 to permit of the retention of a considerable volume of chilled air at all times 30 between the basket 30 and wall 11 at the bottom of the jar.

The basket in the form illustrated is readily removable in order that both it and the jar may be cleansed.

an I claim:

1. An internal protective member for vacuum jars comprising a shell of foraminous material of high heat conductivity and frictionally engaging the inner wall of said jar.

{ 2. A protective member for vacuum jars comprising a shell of flexible and compressible material of high heat conductivity frictionally engaging the inner wall of said jar.

3. A protective member for vacuum jars 113 comprising a shell of foraminous material of high heat conductivity frictionally engaging the inner wall of said jar and spaced from the bottom thereof.

4. The combination with a vacuum jar used 51 for refrigerated storage purposes and normally containing an evaporating refrigerant, of a basket of substantially the same contour as the inner wall of such vacuum jar and of relatively closely meshed metallic material 55 adapted to frictionally engage the wall of such vacuum jar.

WARREN S. WATTS. 

